Custodial jobs remain safe

Vice Chair Danny Hale motioned to award the district’s cleaning services contract to Knoxville-based GCA Education Services, a move that would have saved the district just over $1 million in the coming academic year, the article noted.

According to the article, the 7 to 4 vote against the move marks the fourth time the board has rejected the move to outsource services since 2009.

"The word ''outsource'' has swept across the American workforce like a tornado, destroying families and moving the American workplace," said Robert McMurry, a custodian at Knox Doss at Drakes Creek in Hendersonville.

"For four years, this school board has hung that bad word over our heads, and we''re tired of it. Our morale is so low, we have the snakes looking down on us wondering what is going on with the morale of the Sumner County School employees," McMurry added.

David Fuqua, a history and economics teacher at Portland High School, spoke in favor of the custodians, saying they are more than dedicated workers, but rather like family who students know by name, the article noted.

"They have a love for the school, and you can''t outsource that," Fuqua said.